Learning About Love The Hard Way
by Reina Grayson
Summary: Hector Reyes has seen all the pretty girls around watchtower, so he's going to try and get together with one, but will he be successful? Number 20 in Collaboration Series with Malaizjan Dejesus.


Learning About Love the Hard Way

The party was great, and with Serenity's magic; cleanup was a breeze. It had been three hours since everyone headed out, so the immortal granddaughter of Merlin was practicing a spell she had been working on for some time. There was someone watching, and he didn't care that she was married to the famous Nightwing I, he wanted to try to get a kiss from her.

"Liah gniteelf dna sdinw gnimrots htrof dnes; dinw fo sseddog." Serenity said, and soon winds were blowing and hail formed from the small clouds that had formed.

"Beautiful, chica." The person watching her said.

"Hello Hector; did you have fun today?" Serenity said, not taking her attention off the spell she was trying to perfect.

"I did; but I'm having more fun watching you." Hector said; hoping that he was getting through to her.

"Hector, sweetie; you know I'm married to Dick, so why try." Serenity stated.

"Why not ditch him; I mean you're beautiful; even if you are 3000 years old." Hector stated.

"You remind me of Wally, Hector; but there is one thing you should know." Serenity said as she moved her hands toward the 14 year old.

The winds and hail started to turn and headed right for Hector. Scarab activated only to protect him, but the winds didn't die down for a while. Soon enough, the winds became stronger and caught the fourth Blue Beetle off guard and he was blown back into the nearby wall. After the boy collided with the wall, the winds died down and the hail stopped.

_"I should have warned you about Earth WOMEN; they do not like it when you mention their age. If I am right; you were WAY off anyway."_ Scarab told Hector.

"Thanks for the warning." Hector stated; rubbing his head as the armor retracted.

Serenity then walks over to him and kisses his forehead. "Be careful who you hit on, okay Hector."

With that said, Serenity walked out of the room, leaving Hector dazed. Another two minutes before he overcame the shock of getting his first kiss (well from an older woman) and got up to head out of the room.

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Fifteen Minutes Later

Dana was still getting used to being on this amazing satellite, but she had learned more about what it's like to be in the life of a superhero, at least from the Batfamily's point of view. Everyone she talked to had a loss somehow in their lives; Dick lost his parents and saw it happen, Areina's mother was poisoned and subsequently died the day Areina was born, Meygan actually died for a while. Terry was part of that family now, and he really did have a tragedy in his background. Sure he lost his father and that pushed him into the life; but now he's lost his mother and little brother.

While she thought about this, she didn't know that someone had entered the animal enclosure. He came walking up to her, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey…Dana right?" The boy asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry but I'm still learning everyone's name." Dana said. She wasn't lying; there were so many people on Watchtower and so many names to remember.

"Hector Reyes, lovely lady. My father was the third Blue Beetle, and I guess now I take over his legacy." The 14 year old said.

Talking about Jaime reminded Hector of when Impulse ran off with him and left Jaime with dozens of Slade Bots. The new Blue Beetle was also thinking about how Impulse sacrificed himself so that everyone could get out of the Batcave safely.

"Are you okay, Hector?" Dana asked.

"Of course, Mamá caliente. So, any chance we can take a private walk around Watchtower…..and get to know each other better?" Hector stated as he took Dana's hand and kissed it.

"You're a sweet boy Hector, but there are two reasons I can't be with you: 1. you're too young for me; and 2. I'm Terry's girlfriend." Dana informed the boy.

"He can't make you happy; I mean I heard that he wasn't forthcoming with you about who he was for YEARS." Hector stated.

"That's true, but he did it to protect me." Dana retorted.

"I would have told you, despite Wayne's protests." Hector said, and that's when he took Dana's hand and kissed it.

Dana let out a small giggle at the gesture; but then she saw someone coming up behind Hector, and knew who it was by the silhouette, and so didn't say anything, just smiled at Hector as he looked up at her. The silhouette came closer and seemed to raise an arm. Soon enough the arm came right toward Hector and not even the Scarab had time to activate. Terry's face came out of the shadows, and the second Batman punched Hector right in the head.

"Hey, what was that for essa." Hector said after he got up from hitting the ground.

"She told you she's with me; I know you're new to the hero game, but stay away from Dana." Terry stated, using his own Batglare on the 14 year old.

Hector flinched but didn't say anything, as he kept rubbing his head; then he walked off.

"You alright, honey?" Terry asked.

"I'm fine; I think he's just going through the motions, he **is** only about 14." Dana said; a look on her face saying that she remembered Terry did the same thing at Hector's age.

"I love you, Dana Tan." Terry stated as he pulled her into a kiss.

A bit after, the kiss ended and the two of them headed for their room.

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Tech Lab

Max was working hard on a final test of these bracelets that Meygan found the schematics for, and the test was going well. She, Gear and Syfon didn't want to test the bracelets on Meygan because there could be a problem and anything could happen to the quarter demon; so the two house geniuses created a device that would emulate Meygan's demon powers.

The test was going well and the bracelets were standing up to not only Meygan's demon powers, but even a small bit of time travel that was used. At that moment; the door opened and when Max look up for a second, she saw a boy with dark curly hair come walking in. Knowing about Terry's secret gave her access to the Batcave; only after she helped Bruce find Terry when he was lost; so she had read the files on all the heroes and their children. She also realized why Dick hadn't told his niece about his family, so she kept that to herself.

"Hello Hector." Max said as she turned her attention back to the test of the bracelets.

"Hola senorita; so testing out Meygan's fancy bracelets?" Hector asked, figuring since she was friends with Terry, she also had access to information about everyone.

"With these, we can fix the timeline and your father will be free." Max told him.

"How about after the test, we could have some dinner; I'm practically starving." Hector stated.

"Sorry, you're sweet and all, but I like being single, gives me more time to study all the latest tech and work on my own computer programs." Max said, never taking her attention off the test area.

Unknown to the two; someone had been walking by to check on her soon to be step son and heard the two talking. Artemis was listening as she heard something so familiar in the way Hector was hitting on Max. It wasn't long before it hit her; she was listening to someone flirt just as Wally had decades ago. Fresh tears threatened to fall, and that's when she closed the slightly open door and headed to Med Bay to sit with Brian.

"You can't stay at the tech thing forever, chica; you'll have to settle down sometimes." Hector said, still trying to flirt, but it was futile.

"Hector, I'm 21 years old, and you're just 14. You need to try and find someone closer to your own age and that will be the person you want to be with for the rest of your life." Max stated, and with that the test was done; so she was able to turn her full attention to Hector. "The reason I'm into the tech stuff is because you never know, there may be someone my age that's in the same field. It's not only that you have to like someone; but you have to be compatible in other areas."

The 14 year old thought hard on this, and that's when he realized that Max was right; he could flirt all the time, but there's only going to be one girl for him. The fourth Blue Beetle then headed out to think over this more. "See you around, chica."

"Goodbye Hector." Max said as she took the bracelets out of the machine.

* * *

Well, Mala takes over for the next few stories, I hope you enjoy this and the whole series.


End file.
